North Columbus News

Jason Reece, an associate professor of city and regional planning at the Knowlton School at The Ohio State University, has developed a keen understanding of the impact neighborhood changes can have on residents. Growing up in Hamilton, Ohio, he witnessed firsthand the effects of industrial decline and housing market dysfunction.

“In my own childhood, I got to experience what happens within a place when jobs disappear, when the housing market no longer functions. To me, that was a visceral experience,” Reece said.

This early exposure influenced Reece's career path and led him to collaborate with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency less than a decade ago. Together, they created the Opportunity Index and its interactive mapping tool as part of the university’s Kirwan Institute.

The Opportunity Index aims to provide contextual information for neighborhoods across Ohio using 15 indicators categorized into housing, education, transportation, employment, and health.

“We used two kinds of knowledge [to create the indicators]: the research literature and extensive community engagement,” Reece explained. “We’re looking at proximity to jobs, looking at the physical conditions of a neighborhood. Is it environmentally healthy? Are there parks? Is there access to food? How are the schools doing?”

Initially, data for constructing such an index was scarce. However, today’s era offers abundant data and various mapping tools.

“This is a different era where we have oodles of data and all these different mapping tools,” Reece noted. “The challenge now is to make meaning of that and to figure out how to contextualize and use the information.”

Despite this influx of data being beneficial, Reece acknowledges that it doesn't always tell the complete story.

“We recognize that the data and the map is a first look; it’s a snapshot,” he said. “There’s a lot about neighborhoods that’s qualitative, that’s experiential. It’s important to do a deeper dive into understanding the community beyond just the data. But data is a good place to start.”

The tool allows users to see their neighborhood's ranking on the index from very high to very low opportunity levels. Additionally, it includes a Community Change Index showing how an area’s housing market and social demographics have evolved over time.

“You can get a feel for which direction neighborhoods are trending,” Reece said. “You may have a neighborhood that isn’t doing so well but when we look at the Change Index, we can recognize that it’s actually on an upward trajectory. It’s a helpful tool.”

Reece emphasized that neighborhood environments significantly shape individual futures.

“There’s the old real estate adage, ‘Location, location, location.’ That’s very much the case in regard to why the quality of your environment matters so much,” he said.

He further highlighted that these environmental impacts extend beyond individuals.

“If you think about young people, these environmental factors have the deepest impact on youth development and their ability to thrive,” he stated. “If we know kids are in challenging environments ... if we improve those environments ... kids are going to see better outcomes. Those kids are the labor force of the future ... Making sure families are healthy and in safe environments is critical – that impacts our entire region.”